Alive Again
by Dark Cosmos
Summary: Formally known as "I Will Love Again". Co-authored with Kawaiibaka...X-Men: Evo x-over...this fic is Scott McNeil approved! I *need* those reviews to inspire me to continue!! Minna have been slacking off when it comes to reviewing lately!!
1. Prologue

****Disclaimer: I don't own 'em  
  
****Author's Note: Konnichiwa! This fic was actually started a long, long, long time ago, it's co-written with Kawaiibaka, and she and I had one heck of a time getting this thing written. This is an X-Men: Evolution cross, this fic starts right after Rogue becomes a permanent recruit of the X-Men, so it's fairly early in the first series. For SM, it's after Chaos. Onegai, review for the both of us ^-^ I haven't seen too many Evolution cross-overs with SM, so this should be a treat!  
Ja Ne!  
****  
  
  
  
A tall, woman swayed gracefully, upon her shapely form, was a simple thin, long white dress. Her skin consisted of deep blue, her hair long and fiery red. Yellow eyes glowed in the dark as of a cat, in her arms she held a book. In graceful steps she approached a man seated on a gold, silver accented throne. Short white hair was covered with a metal helmet, and he wore an armor of red and purple. There he was busy studying a few dusty books alike the one the woman held with her now. He looked up upon her entrance, a smirk crossing his features.   
  
"Mystique what have you brought me?" Her expression continued to hold an obedient look, she softly lay the book in front of Magneto, he fingered the leathery cover and over the symbol imprinted on the front of the book. "What is it?" He questioned the shape shifter, a smile graced across her lips.   
  
"This is the history behind the Silver Alliance, the symbol on the front in Japanese. Yogen no Tuski, it means Prophecy of the Moon ", she answered obediently. he smiled as well, giving a satisfied nod, he lifted the book in his hands, and thrifted through the pages. Mystique watched as Magneto's eyes read the page, his expression was serious, white eyes brows drawn together, and silent. He had barely read more then ten pages when his expression began to change into intrigue. His eyebrows were not drawn together, and his faced relaxed. Slowly a smiled crept up to his aged features, "what?" she demanded, he grunted at her tone of voice.   
  
"Be patient my dear Mystique, it seems that a great power is with in this area....very powerful indeed", he began to chuckle, the smile returned to Mystique's lips. " Listen well to what I am about to read for you it its for our ears only and no one else..."  
  
"The legends tell that soon the most powerful warrior will emerge. One of unspeakable abilities, and it will be in the form of a golden-haired princess. She will have beauty unlike all others and a heart of gold, as she is destined to become Empress of the Universe. Her power comes from her unwillingness to sacrifice anything or anybody. Not even her own foe. But most of all her, eternal love, her love is the most powerful essence she possessed. In order for her to raise to her true power she must have her one true love by her side. When she succeeds to her true power, a true Utopian shall be born....Crystal Tokyo, center of all universe. But be warn, beware of the Golden Prince. Once true golden shall rust and show it's true self."  
  
  
  
  
"What are you planning to do Magneto?" Mystique curiously asked. Magneto looked at her, the grin disappeared from his face." I suspect that the Golden Prince is the Empress's lover. We must find the prince".  
  
"And how do you suppose we accomplish that?" Mystique inquired, Magneto folded his hands thoughtfully in front of him,   
  
"They're already here..."  
  
****  
  
Usagi sighed quietly, she stared at the endless paths of cotton in the sky, trying to discover what secrets they held....she was content in her current situation, her fiancee sat beside her, quietly working on his laptop, a soft hum rang into her ears from his rapid tapping of the keys. They were on their way to America, Mamoru had come back to Tokyo for a visit, and now he was returning to finish up the rest of the holiday back in New York. The inner senshi had decided they would all go along to spend some time for a holiday as well, Mamoru would be finishing up his studies at the university, and Ami felt particularly interested in seeing some of the schools there. She dismissed the thought and returned her attention to the present. Minako and Makoto from the seats behind them.  
  
"Mako-chan why don't you ask him for a drink ..hmmmm?" Minako whispered.   
  
"Minako-chan! I wanted the red headed one!".   
  
"Mako-chan!" Minako hissed clasping a hand over her taller friend's mouth. Usagi smiled from her seat, a chuckle escaped her lips, those girls were so boy crazy it was ridiculous. She turned her eyes towards her fiancee, and sighed, then her eyes lowered to the large diamond ring sitting snugly on her finger, another sigh escaped her lips, something about this wasn't right, something within her begged her to withdrawal from her commitment, but she brushed it off as nervousness. Her parents were pleased of the engagement, her mother more than her counterpart, but he finally gave in, since Usagi numbered eighteen years of age, making her a legal adult. Soon she would have to claim the throne of Crystal Tokyo, once she and Mamoru were married, and then they would have to conceive the heir to the throne. Another sigh escape from her lips, everything was happening too fast. Mamoru looked up from his laptop and looked at her, he reached up with his left hand and lifted her dainty chin. her eyes sparkled with a certain sadness, he didn't understand it.   
  
"Usako....daijoubou ka?" She nodded.  
  
"Hai daijoubou Mamo-chan", he returned his attention to the laptop, leaving a flustered teenager back to her thoughts. Her glance drifted across the aisle to where Rei and Ami sat. Rei and Usagi still had frequent quarrels, but they were out of the care for each other. She immediately dismissed the thought, and returned her gaze to the window of the airplane, this nagging feeling wasn't lettering her be, for some unknown reason....soon sleep tugged at her, and she reluctantly allowed it to take her over, Usagi felt herself drift off into a foggy darkness....  
  
Usagi woke to the shaking of Mamoru announcing that they had arrived. Usagi smiled warmly and stood up, picking up her belongings, she followed her companions out of the airplane.   
  
"Oi! I can't wait until we get to the hotel, Minako-chan, you're in charge of looking after us, since you can speak English, otherwise, Mamo-chan is our only source of connection." This produced a fit of giggles from everyone.   
  
"By the way, do we even know where we're going?" The always cautious Ami inquired. Noone seemed to have an answer to that one, but Mamoru waved his hand in assurance.   
  
"Don't worry, we'll find something."   
  
****  
  
Two hours and a bottle of Tylenol later, they had a hotel room, and were settled in. Makoto had suggested they take a tour around the area, and Ami had immediately suggested Central Park would be the ideal spot. The others agreed readily, and the group had left thankfully away from the crowded room and outside.   
  
Central Park was a rather large area, so the senshi had split by themselves, to explore on their own, until they would meet up at a certain point. Since Mamoru already was familiar with the area, he had decided to wait at that meeting point until he'd see everyone else.  
  
****  
  
Mystique watched silently from the camouflage of a tree. She had followed the group of interest since they left their hotel, and, as she had hoped, the 'prince' was alone. This young man had to be the prince from a strange energy reading coming from him, and he was no mutant.   
  
She had seen the girl with him, and she was definitely very attractive, that one would have to be the princess, she had determined. Once the girls were out of site, and the young man was alone, Mystique had followed until he stopped to sit on a park bench. She shape shifted into the form of the princess, and walked up towards the prince.  
  
"Follow me", she said, Mamoru looked up to see his Usako walking away from him, she motioned for him to follow.  
  
"Where are you going?" He asked, playing along by getting up from his seated position and following.   
  
"Come and see", she said. Mystique knew exactly where they were going, Magneto was waiting nearby, he wanted the silver crystal, and the golden prince was the only way he would get it.   
  
Mamoru obediently followed, but froze in fear when he noticed his 'Usako' change shape into a blue-skinned woman.   
  
"Nani?" He yelled in his native tongue. Mystique stayed silent, as her superior approached from the sky, and landed softly in front of Mamoru.   
  
"Tell me, are you not Endymion, the golden-crystal keeper?" He asked, impatiently. Mamoru just stood in fear. "I'll take that as a yes." He said, and used his magnetic powers to radiate Mamoru.   
  
Mamoru was over taken by the mutant power as his mind became a muddled mess.   
  
"Do you not desire to have that power? To rule the world?" Magneto repeated over and over. Soon all Mamoru could think of was a lust of power, and for the power his beautiful companion had, that he must get. Magneto had no problem brain-washing the black-haired young man, as it had happened to him before, so he was vulnerable.   
  
"Now, you will listen to me, if you want to rule in the future, you will get that silver crystal for me". Magneto ordered. Mamoru's eyes had become clouded over, the golden crystal within him had become blackened from an evil that now penetrated through his veins.   
  
Using his new-found power, Mamoru summoned a black mist to spread over him, and he became Endymion no Ouji, he drew his sword and smirked evilly.  
  
"As you wish", he said, and headed off to find his princess.  
  
"Now what?" Mystique asked.  
  
"Now we wait". Magneto answered, watching his subject leave their presence.  
  
****  
  
Usagi and the others had met up, she herself was a little surprised to find that Mamoru was not yet at the meeting point. Rei summoned her henshin stick and clutched it tightly.  
  
"I sense evil", she said, the strong presence making her shiver. The others eyed each other and did not hesitate to transform right there, considering there was noone else in sight. The five senshi of the inner solar system stood warily in the middle of Central Park. They looked around frantically, trying to see some sign of a disturbance, or Mamoru. When neither was spotted, everyone relaxed a little bit, considering it was a relatively pleasant day out.   
  
"That was a mistake, to let your guard down", they heard a familiar voice say.   
  
"Mamo-chan?" Eternal Sailor Moon called out, "where are you?"   
  
  
A dark blast of energy surged through the air and hit Eternal Sailor Moon in the back, she yelped and was knocked over onto the ground.   
  
"Right here, of course, Usako". He said. Endymion emerged from the trees and gave the group a wide grin. "Missed me that much?" The senshi gasped, Mars went to help Eternal Sailor Moon up, but Endymion sent another blast of dark energy, knocking her into a nearby tree. "Arimisen." He ordered, "do not interfere with my business." The senshi stared wide-eyed, this was not the same Mamoru they had seen only minutes before.  
  
"What happened to you?" Eternal Sailor Moon called out, clutching her shoulder with her good hand. "Why have you changed so suddenly?" Endymion gave a low growl.  
  
"You have something I long for", he said, and threw another blast at her, this one bigger than the others. Sailor Jupiter threw herself in front of the blast to protect her princess, she succeeded, but the senshi of thunder dissolved into dust from the dark magic at Eternal Sailor Moon's feet.  
  
"Iie!" Eternal Sailor Moon cried out in horror. Endymion approached Eternal Sailor Moon and grabbed her arm, hauling her to her feet. She screamed, and Sailor Venus tried to pull Endymion off, but he pounded his fist into her stomach, sending the same kind of energy blast, disintegrating her as well. Eternal Sailor Moon found it so horrifying at how he did away with them with such ease, this was an unnatural power, something more then just Endymion. He returned his attention back to the blond and slapped her face, hard, knocking her to the ground. Sailor Mercury had her computer out, trying to get readings, but she couldn't detect anything, there was an outside aura about him.   
  
"Eternal Sailor Moon, get out of there!" She yelled and launched her Aqua Rhapsody attack. It hit it's target, but did little damage, he turned around and growled towards her, sending another fatal dark energy blast.   
  
"Three down, two to go", he said, his voice had lowered, and held a chill to it. Sailor Mars was the last of Eternal Sailor Moon's protectors, and she limped towards her best friend, standing in front of her.  
  
"Iie, Rei-chan", Eternal Sailor Moon said, but knew it was no good.  
  
"Listen to me, run, get out of here, get to the road, quickly, and always remember, that you're like a sister to me". With that Endymion got ready to strike his last opponent, and Eternal Sailor Moon obeyed, and made a dash for the other end of the park.   
  
Eternal Sailor Moon heard the wave of energy in the distance, her vision was blurred by tears falling down her face. She clutched her burning cuts, but the pain was too much. She had to stop to catch her breath. She had absolutely no idea why her fiancee was after her, not only that, but he had become Endymion, and evil. Now her best friends were all murdered in cold blood, and she couldn't do anything about it.  
  
  
Her confused thoughts were interrupted by the sound of an approaching figure. She knew who it was, and she knew she didn't have enough energy to fight him off. Endymion approached, and drew his sword, Eternal Sailor Moon turned around and faced him, she stared at him with clouded eyes, and breathed deeply. Endymion smiled, and struck down with his sword, Eternal Sailor Moon jumped back, but the tip of the sword had sliced a big gash down her stomach. She clutched it in pain, and collapsed to her knees.   
  
"Doshite?" She whispered hoarsely.  
  
"I told you why, Usako, for the crystal." He said simply, and went to strike again. She looked up at him, her eyes held a dark, stern look, the crescent moon mark on her forehead began to glow and a burst of white energy shot out, knocking Endymion back. He was out cold, this was her chance to make another escape attempt.   
  
Eternal Sailor Moon limped as quickly as she could through the park, she shut her eyes for a moment and called upon the ginzuishou, to wish for an escape. The magical gem granted her wish, as she was sent out of the park, to another place.   
  
****  
  
When she re-opened her eyes, she looked around and realized she was merely by the side of a road now, but it was more secluded, it did not look like Central Park was behind her, it seemed like just a regular forest was. She immediately became confused, and a wave of loneliness and helplessness washed over her. She stumbled forward, her tattered fuku leaving little warmth to her. Hot tears spilled down her bloodied cheeks.   
  
"Help me..." She hoarsely called out. "Sombody...onegai..." She was getting too weak now to continue.   
  
****  
  
Sailor Pluto watched from a distance at her ailing princess. The fact that the inners were all dead wasn't the part that really bothered her, it was the fact that the time streams would not allow her to interfere, she had to stay there and watch her princess suffer.   
  
The outers had arrived in New York a week previous. Sailor Pluto knew what was coming, and had to prepare. Young Chibi-Usa had returned home before the arrival of Galaxia, and now Chibi-Usa was back in the current time line, only now she was of the tender age of fourteen. Hotaru had been aged to sixteen, as she too was prepared for the up coming danger. Sailor Pluto knew this would happen, a tear fell down her cheek, as she resisted the urge to cry at the pitiful sight her princess made. She closed her eyes when she saw Eternal Sailor Moon collapse by the side of the road.   
  
"Gomen nasai, Usagi-hime", she whispered. She was shocked back into reality when she heard the distant sound of a motorcycle, she gripped her staff tightly. "The knight shall come to rescue his princess", she mumbled softly, and took one last glance towards the fallen princess before she teleported out of there.  
  
****  
  
Logan sped along on his motorcycle, heading back towards the Xavier Institute, so he could resume his training duties for the young mutants there. He frequently made trips in and out, to deal with business non-relating to Xavier. He spotted something peculiar up ahead on the side of the road, he saw a flash of bright colors, and slowed down as he approached the figure. When he made it to the object of interest, he noticed it was the bloodied form of a young woman.   
  
"What in the...?" He trailed off, lowering the kick stand and sliding off of his bike seat. Logan lifted the visor of his helmet and gently touched the arm of the young blond, noticing that she was still warm, he turned her head slightly towards him. Her face was nearly completely covered in blood, as was the rest of her body. It seemed that the strange outfit she was wearing did little to cover her, red/blond locks of hair was strewn about her. He could make out a strange symbol on her forehead, and assumed she must have been a mutant that was attacked.   
  
Taking his jacket off, he gingerly wrapped it around the woman, and lifted her up into his arms. Closing the visor he figured he'd have to hurry if she would survive, considering her pulse was very faint. Starting up his bike, he held the woman close to him, and sped off towards the Institute.  
  
****  
  
As soon as Logan burst through the mansion's front doors, he could hear several voices, some of them strange new ones, speaking in Japanese, nonetheless. One of the new strangers rushed towards him, she was tall and had short blond hair, she growled at him.  
  
"Give me the princess", she said in English, "before it's too late". She swiftly took the woman into her arms and began carrying her up the stairs, and out of site. Logan just stared blankly after her.   
  
"I suppose you'd like to know who that was", came a familiar voice. Logan turned towards Professor Charles Xavier who had a small smile on his face. "That was Haruka, one of Princess Serenity's guardians." Logan rose an eyebrow.   
  
"Perhaps I should explain". Another new voice suggested, the woman made her way into the room, a long mane of dark green hair flowing behind her. Garnet eyes flashed with worry. "My name's Setsuna, but I'm also known as Sailor Pluto. The woman you had in your arms is very special, thank you for bringing her here." She said.  
  
"Why is she special again?" Logan asked, still not understanding what was going on.   
  
  
"She is Princess Serenity of the White Moon Kingdom, which ruled a thousand years ago. Now she is known as the Japanese heroine, Sailor Moon."  
  
"I've heard of her", Logan clarified, now starting to understand why the woman had on such a strange and colorful outfit. "But why was she here, and beaten up as well?"  
  
"She was attacked by Prince Endymion, her betrothed. It seems that your mutant acquaintance, Magneto, has Endymion working for him. Princess Serenity has with her the Imperial Silver Crystal, otherwise called 'Key to the Universe'. It would be valuable, to anyone powerful enough to control it." All the new information was getting hard to understand right at the moment for Logan, who looked down at his now bloodied shirt wistfully.  
  
"Sounds like a soap opera to me", he mumbled.   
  
"I shall go tend to my Princess now, and when she is properly cleaned and cared for, I shall return and start at the beginning, so you may understand completely." She gave Logan a small bow and headed up the stairs where Haruka had taken the injured princess. Logan looked towards the professor.  
  
"Just wait, it get's even more confusing", Xavier said, his eyes twinkling with amusement.   
  
  
  
AN: That's it for now, again, onegai, don't be lazy, review ^-^ for me and Kawaiibaka, arigatou, Ja Ne! 


	2. Spykecam

****Disclaimer: I don't own 'em  
  
****Author's Note: Kon'wa minna-san! Arigatou for all of those reviews...I did get some interesting pairing requests, demo, they won't work, and I'll make the reasons obvious in this chapter. The following chapters will actually be expanded versions of the X-Men: Evolution episodes, so if you watch that show, you'll notice some similarities. For those of you who live in the Toronto area, or upper New York area and have heard of Animé North, (if you've attended, or would like to attend), please contact me at pingu_18@hotmail.com for some information regarding my cosplay group. I would've gotten this chapter out sooner, demo my partner in crime, Kawaiibaka has been extremely busy, so I've not been able to get a hold of her since April, so I'll be winging this chapter myself. Enjoy!  
Ja Ne!  
****  
  
Usagi's eyes slowly opened, the cloudy film telling the length of her sleeping. She had to quickly close her eyes again, not used to the bright light illuminating the strange white room she was in. Alarm shot through her like a bullet, forcing herself to fully open her eyes, she rapidly reached her hand to her face to rub away the sleep, but groaned in pain regretting her actions when pain throbbed through her arm.   
  
Fully awake now, Usagi took notice of several bandages that were wrapped around various parts all over her body, bruises tattooed her skin with ugly shades of yellow and blue. Her long golden hair spread out around her like spilt sunlight, a simple white chemise covering her. Usagi's whole body ached with a stiff soreness, she felt like crying out in pain, but her throat was so dry that only a wheezing noise came out.   
  
This alerted the other figure in the room, who approached from the shadows and Usagi immediately recognized her. Usagi remained silent, ceasing her struggle to regain her voice, and just stared at the figure silently, then licking her lips she forced out her words.  
  
"...Haruka..." She hoarsely spoke, "where am I?" The appearance of one of the outers automatically told Usagi that she was in some sort of danger, but she already knew that. But moving her eyes around the white room, she did not recognize one thing.   
  
"You're at the Xavier Institute...in New York", Haruka answered obediently, not wishing to make the princess over-exert herself.   
  
"How long...have...I been asleep?" Usagi warily asked, her voice still the raspy sound.   
  
"Nearly two weeks, now". Shock shot through the princess, causing her to avert her look towards the ceiling, not believing how badly she had been injured, a few tears slipped from her eyes, landing on the soft white pillows holding up her head. Turning her head to her side, Usagi caught sight of a crumpled brown jacket sitting limply on a chair near the wall. She rose an eyebrow at the sight of scarlet covering over various parts of the brown leather. Suddenly realization hit her, and she knew exactly what it was.  
  
"That's...my blood", Usagi spoke softly, more tears beginning to weld in her eyes. For several moments all that could be heard was Usagi's soft whimpering, once Haruka had enough of the nerve-wracking silence, she decided to speak.  
  
"Koneko-chan..." She began, but was cut off when Usagi sharply returned her gaze to the tall blond and narrowed her eyes in hatred.   
  
"Why didn't anyone clean my blood from it?" She asked, feeling an energy so foreign to her blaze, her voice cold. Haruka felt as if she'd been struck with the force of the icy question, a look had crossed Usagi's face that she'd never seen before.   
  
"That wasn't an important matter, Koneko-chan", Haruka answered.   
  
"Don't call me that! Sailor Pluto could've saved them...all of you...but now they're dead!" Usagi spat out, turning her face from the Uranus senshi, she closed her eyes tightly to will the tears away, "leave me...now". She said. Haruka hesitated, not sure whether her princess was being serious, since it was such a different Usagi that she now faced. "Now!" Usagi forced out, a fit of coughing stopped her from saying any more. Haruka backed up slowly, then complied to her princess' wishes and left the room in a fury of confusion.  
  
Once Haruka had left, Usagi let the tears begin to flow freely, silent sobs racked away at her body as the fresh painful memories tortured her mind. She knew that her life had been changed dramatically, and no longer would she have the normal life that she so desired, she now had to take on a responsibility to the rest of her senshi, and knew that she would have to face Mamoru again.   
  
The reminder of her fiancee, suddenly directed her attention to the engagement ring still snugly fit on her finger. She glanced down at it, the gold tainted red with her blood, and the sight suddenly gave her a sickening feeling in her stomach.   
  
Ignoring the pain movement made, she furiously pulled tightly on the intruding object, gritting her teeth, forcing it off, then letting it slip of the white covers to drop to the floor. She looked at it, then turned her head to force herself to rest, willing that one of her caring outers would remove the ring from the room so she'd never have to look upon it again.   
  
  
****  
  
Chibi-Usa dragged Hotaru's arm as she led them down to the kitchen where they knew the other outers would be.   
  
"I'm telling you Hotaru, it's not fair!" Chibi-Usa whined, the two had being told to practice their English at all times. "I don't see why we have to wait until Mo...I mean, Aunt Serenity has to wake up before we can start school...I've been looking forward to it!" Hotaru looked skeptically at her lively pink-haired friend.   
  
"You want go to school?" Hotaru asked, in choppy English. Chibi-Usa turned her head and smirked, her eyes twinkling merrily.  
  
"Duh! I wanna' meet some cute guys!" She blurted out, a sarcastic hint to her voice.  
  
Finally they reached their destination, and Chibi-Usa burst through the door, alerting her presence to the two other women in the kitchen. Hotaru, embarrassed by her friend's zealous nature, sat silently at the table next to Setsuna, who offered a steaming cup of tea. Hotaru gratefully accepted, a little tea spilling on the table when Chibi-Usa dropped herself snugly beside her friend.   
Chibi-Usa's mindless chatter was abruptly interrupted when Haruka burst through the doorway, a look of shock covering her features. Michiru was the first to notice, and stood, approaching her flustered lover.  
  
"How is Usagi-hime?" Michiru asked in her native tongue, the others listening for an answer intently.  
  
"She's awake", Haruka answered simply, brushing her hair back with her fingers, she let out a large sigh and sat herself at the table across from Setsuna.   
  
Chibi-Usa felt excitement rush through her at the news, she looked towards Hotaru with happiness written all over her face.   
  
"C'mon, Hotaru! Let's go find the other girls and go shopping!" She burst out, latching onto her friend's arm. Setsuna motioned for the girls to stop for the moment.  
  
"Just because the princess is awake, does not mean you will be starting school right away". Setsuna said in perfect English. Chibi-Usa smirked.  
  
"You promised!" She answered back smartly, and proceeded on her way.   
  
As soon as the younger girls left, all attention was drawn to Haruka.  
  
"Nani?" Michiru asked, "what's wrong with Usagi-hime?"   
  
"She's unnatural..." Haruka said, "she ordered me to leave her, with such an anger." Setsuna and Michiru eyed each other, the latter patting her lover's shoulder reassuringly.  
  
"I wouldn't blame her...she's been through a lot, I'd give her time to recover", the aqua-haired beauty suggested. The choice seemed wise to all, and the matter was left of giving Usagi her space until she was ready to begin her recovery.   
  
****  
  
Chibi-Usa burst through a room door, Kitty and Rogue looked up in surprise towards their intruder.   
  
"Do yah mind?" Rogue complained, still applying her purple eyeshadow. Chibi-Usa waved a wad of cash at Kitty.  
  
"The princess is awake now, that means Hotaru and me get to go to school", the pink-haired girl stated, handing the cash to her silent companion and pulling out a pink bandana, tying it around the intruding crescent mark on her forehead to camouflage it. Kitty bounced up with joy.   
  
"Great! Like, when do we get to meet her?" The brunette asked, pulling on her sandals.   
  
"I dunno...you're all so obsessed!" Chibi-Usa accused, motioning for the girls to follow.   
  
"Ah get to pick the store y'all are going to shop at..." Rogue insisted, Kitty rolled her eyes. The quad left the room and headed down the hallway deep in conversation, Jean soon joined up and they went to hunt after Scott. The other two boys requested to come along, but were quickly turned down by their team mates.  
  
  
"But Zcott getz to go!" Kurt insisted, whining like a young child would. Jean carelessly flipped her hair over her shoulder and smirked.   
  
"Yeah, but we're just using him for his trunk space", she answered sarcastically. The girls all let out fits of giggles and continued on their way, leaving two pouting boys behind.  
  
****  
  
Haruka did return to the room, the next morning, and did find the ring on the floor. When Usagi awoke, she remained silent with fresh remembrance of the previous day. She did notice the red tear stains streaked across Usagi's pale face, but said nothing. Haruka left a small bowl of soup on the small table next to the bed, as well as fresh hot water with ivory snow mixed in as well in a small basin, a small towel sitting next to the bowl. Then when Usagi gave no response, Haruka left without saying a word, afraid to provoke another fight which was so awkward coming from Usagi.  
  
Usagi didn't touch the food, even though her stomach rumbled hungrily for the chicken broth, her mind told her otherwise and she had no desire to eat, which was another strange change in her regular ways. Turning her head towards the only dark colored object in the room, she stared at the brown leather jacket still crumpled up on the chair, still untouched or unnoticed by others.   
  
Close enough to reach, Usagi extended her arm and clutched at what she could, slowly pulling the jacket towards her, and lifting it onto her stomach, still staring at it. With forced will, she pushed herself to slide up backwards, so she could sit up enough that she wasn't inflicting too much pain on herself, the bandages tightly wrapped causing her breathing to be more labored. Taking the folded up towel, she dipped it in the ivory snow-water and proceeded at attempting to wipe the blood from the jacket.  
  
Disgusted by the sight of her own blood, Usagi wished to force her reoccurring nightmares that plagued her memory and continued the scrubbing for several hours, until she became too weak to continue, but when she fell asleep it wasn't forced this time, she welcomed the blackness readily.   
  
****  
  
Chibi-Usa and Hotaru toured around the hallways of Bayville Highschool that morning, searching for their classes in what little time they had before the bell would ring for home room. Luckily both of them had most of their classes with some of the other X-Men, which would be a big help to both girls, but nervousness still tickled their stomachs in anticipation.   
  
As soon as they found Hotaru's first class, Chibi-Usa waved a goodbye, and jogged off towards her class just as the bell sounded. Hotaru approached the teacher for her schedule first, then slipped in an empty seat near the back of the room.   
  
The class was considerably smaller than what Hotaru was used to in Japan, although Juuban was a larger school with more students, so the senshi of death was looking forward to the slower pace work.   
  
"Students, we have an exchange student here from Japan, her name is Hotaru Tomoe, I'm expecting all of you to be nice." The teacher started before he went on to the attendance. Hotaru felt herself blush at the comment, and avoided making any eye contact with any of the other students.   
  
After the teacher had given everyone their assigned work, the class grew a bit noisier with soft mumbles of conversation between students. Hotaru went for her pencil case to take out some writing utensils, most of the pencils she did have were of some creative fashion, thanks to Chibi-Usa, she selected on of the fuzzy pencils and pulled it out of the pencil case.   
  
She had her first encounter with a student when the boy who sat behind her had dropped his pencil which rolled near the front of her desk. He had moved to retrieve it and looked up at her for several moments.   
  
"Yes?" She quietly asked, trying to understand why the boy wouldn't move back to his seat. He made a small mumble and returned to his seat.  
  
Soon enough the bell rang to end the class, and Hotaru quickly headed out the classroom door to find her locker and hopefully her pink-haired best friend.   
  
****  
  
"I met one of the new recruits for the Geek Squad", Pietro "Quicksilver" Maximoff announced to his companions, slicking his white hair back. He, Lance "Avalanche" Alvers and Freddy "Blob" Dukes made their way down to their next class during the break in between classes. The Brotherhood boys would've consulted Mystique on the matter, but she seemed to never be around lately, after losing Rogue to the X-Men, and working on a special assignment for Magneto.   
  
"Yeah, the pink girl is in my first class with Kitty, I think her name is 'Usagi' or something. She's really cute..." Lance mentioned, Pietro rolled his eyes.   
  
"Well Hotaru is definitely different, she's got purple eyes..." Pietro mused out loud, remembering about the shock that overtook him when he first lay his eyes on Hotaru, and how much she looked like his sister that he'd just as soon forget.  
  
"Hey, look, there they are now", Freddie pointed to the two new girls not too far ahead, they were chatting by the water fountain, all three boys just stood and stared until Chibi-Usa noticed and turned around. She winked towards the boys, and elbowed Hotaru, who refused to look out of pure shyness, but Chibi-Usa forced her to turn around, and Hotaru gave a weak smile towards Pietro of whom she had met earlier.   
  
****  
  
"Who's the boy that you like, Hota?" Chibi-Usa asked, raising her eyebrows in curiosity. Hotaru blushed again and shrugged her shoulders.  
  
"He's in my first period class, and I don't like him, I don't even know who he is", Hotaru insisted. The girls were heading towards the cafeteria, it was now lunch hour and the day seemed to be going quickly.   
  
"You'd be better to steer clear, ladies", Evan said, walking up behind the duo with a tray of food in his hands. "Those guys are nothin' but trouble", he said. Chibi-Usa smirked.   
  
"Oh, I sense a rivalry", she accused.   
  
"Like, more than you know", Kitty said, approaching from the other side of the group. They found Rogue, Scott and Kurt, who was stuffing several unidentified edible objects in his mouth, sitting at one of the tables in the cafeteria. The new arrivals seated themselves snugly, as Chibi-Usa prodded to know more. Kurt swallowed a large lump of food and gladly satisfied the pink-haired girl's curiosity.  
  
"Doez are ze Brotherhood boyz, they're a group of bad applez, if you catch my drift." He began. "And Pietro and Evan uzed to be in ze zame zchool".   
  
"Yeah, and like, Lance tried to make me break into the school files for him once..." Kitty interrupted.  
  
"Their group is run by Mystique, she used to be after me before Ah finally chose who Ah'd stick with". Rogue added. Chibi-Usa's face widened into a big grin, she patted her violet-eyed friend on the back.  
  
"An evil boy...nice choice!" She congratulated. Hotaru lowered her head and avoided looking at her friend.   
  
"Pietro is not a nice choice", Evan protested. Chibi-Usa looked towards him and stuck her tongue out in response.   
  
"Hey, there's Jean", Kitty announced watching as the red head walked by with the school jock, Duncan Matthews catching Scott's attention of whom frowned at the sight. Chibi-Usa noticed and snuggled up next to Scott.  
  
"Want me to kill him for you?" She asked sappily. Scott clicked back to reality and turned towards the pink-haired girl, laughing at the comment.   
  
"No, that's alright", he insisted.  
  
****  
  
At the end of the final class, students began to file out into the hallways after the final bell. Evan was about to high-tail it out of his Economics class, but his teacher stopped him, holding up a piece of paper with a grade on it.   
  
"Evan, when I said write about the Star Wars program, I wasn't talking about the movie", the teacher mentioned casually. Evan nervously rubbed the back of his head.  
  
"I'm sorry, Teach, I..." The teacher rose his hand to stop Evan from going any further.  
  
"That's alright, I'm going to give you a chance to make up." He handed Evan a small video camera, which made the mutant's eyes widen in surprise and excitement. "I'd like you to do a small report on what your life is like". Evan nodded enthusiastically.  
  
"Sure thing, thanks Mr. V!" He exclaimed. The teacher smiled and left the room, allowing Evan time to fiddle around with the different buttons on the camera. He went over to the window and played with the zoom. "Hey, I can see the Institute from here..." Evan mumbled out loud, zooming in closer, spotting one of his less-social instructors approaching the gate on a motorcycle. "Hello Logan..." Evan greeted, still mumbling.  
  
"Hey!" Kurt said, scaring Evan when appearing outside of the open window. He was his regular blue self, which made his problem obvious. "My image inducer iz buzted". Kurt said, showing his hollow watch.   
  
"Hey, Kurt you should get that fixed", another voice suggested. Chibi-Usa, who had also just had Economics waltzed up behind Evan full with smiles. Evan rolled his eyes at the sight.  
  
  
"You should get one, you've got pink cones on your head", Evan dryly commented, The pink-haired girl touched one of the pink streamers lovingly.  
  
"At least my hairstyle looks good", she retorted.  
  
"What's that supposed to mean?" Evan demanded defensively, secretly beginning to enjoy his many encounters with the niece of the princess.   
  
"Ah, excuze me..." Kurt interrupted, "don't mean to be ze party pooper, but I need to get out of here", he said. The other two stopped their quarreling and nodded, quickly planning on how they'd help the blue elf escape.  
  
****  
  
Hotaru was with Rogue when their last class ended, they made it out into the mob in the hallway and spotted Kitty. Making their way over, they noticed Kitty having a conversation with a young man that she had a crush on. She was making giggling noises that made Rogue make a disgusted face. Once the duo made their way to their younger friend, the boy, 'Jason' handed Kitty a poster.  
  
"Hi ladies", he greeted towards the new arrivals, "we're going to be putting on a musical, it's a rock version of Dracula, I'm playing the lead of course". By the time Jason finished this comment, Chibi-Usa made her way into the small group, while not too far away Evan was taping the conversation. Oblivious to the pink-haired girl, Kitty began giggling hysterically.   
  
"Oh I'd love to be in your play!" Kitty insisted. Chibi-Usa snorted and made faces behind Kitty's back. The other two girls laughed in response. As soon as Jason left, Kitty turned to Rogue and announced proudly that she'd land herself a good role. Rogue snorted and began an argument, much to Evan's delight. Hotaru and Chibi-Usa just watched on while the two others quarreled.   
  
****  
  
Michiru was the first to notice the jacket still in the clutches of the sleeping princess. She made no move to remove the object, as a softened expression on Usagi's face told she had found something to forget her troubles for a while with. The aqua-haired senshi had changed the water, and had replaced the cold, untouched bowl of soup with a new hot one.   
  
Soon after she left, Usagi had awaken and had returned to her 'hobby', scrubbing at the dried blood on the jacket. Occasionally she glanced towards the soup bowl, as her movement made her stomach rumble with hunger. Not being able to resist for any longer, she stopped what she was doing and drank from the small bowl of soup. The hot liquid felt exquisite down her dry throat, and she felt a spark of energy run through her. Obviously Michiru would've added some energy herbs to the broth.   
  
  
When Michiru returned later on to check on her, she was delighted to find the princess awake and busy, as well as the soup bowl being empty.   
  
"Konnichiwa, Serenity Hime", Michiru greeted quietly. Usagi looked up and nodded towards Michiru, a small smile touching her lips. Michiru walked over and sat beside Usagi on the bed, motioning towards her bandages. "May I?" She requested. Usagi obediently allowed Michiru to remove one of the bandages, revealing raw, but healed skin.   
  
Within a few minutes all the bandages were removed, and Michiru mentioned how pleasing the herbs added onto her skin prevented any scars. Once finished, Michiru took the empty soup bowl and went to leave the room.  
  
"Michiru-san", Usagi spoke.   
  
"Hai?" Michiru turned around and awaited the princess to continue.   
  
"Tell Haruka-san gomen...for how I spoke to her." Usagi said, with the smile still playing on her lips. Michiru returned the smile and bowed lightly, exiting the room afterwards.  
  
****  
  
Within a few days Usagi's strength had increased significantly, and ignoring the skepticism from the other outers, had removed all trace of her blood from the leather jacket. Deciding she was ready to try, Michiru and Haruka were preparing to have Usagi attempt at walking again, to get the strength back into her leg muscles.   
  
Setsuna watched on as Michiru and Haruka took either arm of Usagi and lift her into somewhat of a standing position. Her legs wobbly, Usagi made her best attempt of staying vertical, but her legs buckled, and the other senshi were forced to help her back into bed.   
  
"It will come, with time", Setsuna said in support. Usagi smiled weakly.  
  
"You know, the students have been eager to meet you", Michiru said.  
  
"The students?" Usagi questioned, pulling the white comforter tightly around her.   
  
"Hai, of the institute, although the professor has been very supportive, and has told the children to wait until you are ready", Michiru continued.   
  
"By the way..." Usagi questioned, "where is Hotaru-chan?" She asked curiously.  
  
"In school, along with Small Lady", Michiru answered. The familiar nickname gave Usagi a jolt of shock.  
  
"Chibi-Usa?" She questioned. Michiru nodded, looking towards Setsuna.  
  
"It's alright", Setsuna nodded, "Hai, Small Lady is here, she's a bit older now." The guardian of time informed.   
  
"How much?" Usagi asked.  
  
"She's fourteen, and is the picture of yourself", she happily announced. The thought of a pink-haired version of herself at that age made Usagi blush.   
  
"That makes me feel rather old, you know", Usagi mumbled, realizing how much she had aged since she first became Sailor Moon.   
  
****  
  
All the students at the institute were in a rather sour mood once they had been forbidden to leave the premises after Sabretooth's discovery of the Institute's location, thanks to Evan's camera. Logan had gotten quite angry at the young teen, and made it very clear he didn't want anyone in anymore danger from his long-time enemy.   
  
Evan was in a rut, trying to think up a way to fix what he had done, and make things right again. His thoughts were interrupted when the bubbly pink-haired girl burst into the room.  
  
"Hey Evan, thanks to you, I can't go to that new store Kitty told me about", she complained, seating herself down next to the teen boy. Suddenly a spontaneous idea hit Evan and his face lit up with joy.  
  
"Great idea, Usagi!" He yelled, shocking Chibi-Usa to no ends.   
  
"What idea?" She asked, getting confused when Evan grabbed onto her hand and pulled her out of the room towards Rogue and Kitty's.  
  
****  
  
"C'mon, I just need to get a little bit, for my project", Evan insisted, carrying a boom box with him along with the infamous camera. Kitty and Rogue rose their eyebrows in question, but agreed, accompanying Evan and Chibi-Usa out of the institute to a small remote area to practice in.  
  
Starting the music, Chibi-Usa and Kitty began dancing, Rogue just standing with a large frown plastered on her face.   
  
"Get with it, Girl!" Evan ordered, "why don't you give cone-head girl a little tap, just to swipe some of her moves?" He suggested. Chibi-Usa quickly panicked and moved out of Rogue's reach.   
  
  
"Uh, better not, Kitty's a better dancer anyways..." She quickly said, secretly remembering that her true identity was to be kept for now.   
  
Rogue and Kitty touched for a second, and soon all three girls were dancing to the music. Suddenly, out of the trees Sabretooth interrupted their dancing, as expected, and began attacking the young teens. Evan had planned this happening, and released some of his spikes, some cutting Sabretooth.   
  
Soon the cat-mutant was overpowering the young mutants, but they weren't left alone anymore when Wolverine showed up and gave Sabretooth a better match. Finally Rogue got close enough to touch Sabretooth, knocking him unconscious, although her hair grew and fur began to sprout.  
  
"Ah...and Ah just shaved mah legs last night!" She whined out loud. Wolverine turned towards Evan who swallowed nervously.  
  
"You planned this all along, didn't you, Porcupine?" Wolverine asked, Evan nodded and smiled sheepishly.   
  
"So, how long are we grounded for?" Evan asked. Wolverine thought about it for a second, loosening up a bit, he gave his answer.  
  
"Until She-wolf, here, gets a haircut", he suggested.  
  
****  
  
By the end of the week, Usagi had gained enough strength that she could stand on her own now, and all of the raw skin had taken it's regular pale color again. Setsuna had given her an English-instruction book, so she could improve her English, which she had been rather poor at. One afternoon when no outers were in sight, Usagi decided she'd try to get to the balcony, to see a little bit of the world which at the moment only existed within the white room she was in.   
  
Struggling to her feet, Usagi stumbled towards the wall, and leaned against it for support until she could move along to the doors to the balcony. Sliding one of the doors open, she moved quickly to the railing at the edge and closed her eyes, taking a moment to regain her breath.   
  
Re-opening her eyes, Usagi let the wind whip her long golden hair about, and hug the thin white silk chemise to her body. Taking in the scenery, she allowed herself to enjoy what she had so long last seen. Lowering her glance a bit, she noticed a group of young students in white gi's practicing martial arts being taught by an older instructor. She spotted the pink hair, and noticed that the one who belonged to the hair looked both strange and familiar to her at the same time.  
  
"Chibi-Usa", she breathed quietly. Also she spotted Hotaru, who looked about sixteen, but Usagi knew she could be wrong, as the girl seemed to age with increasing danger. The other students were complete strangers to her, though, but she studied each one carefully, the instructor's back was to her, so she couldn't study him.   
  
  
****  
  
Evan was busy filming the practice session for the re-make of his project until Logan noticed and told him to put the camera away. Grudgingly he set the camera down near by and rejoined the rest of the students. Kurt and Kitty were busy asking non-stop questions at Chibi-Usa to learn all that they could about the mysterious princess that was staying at the institute. Chibi-Usa continued to insist that she had told them all she knew (without giving away more than she should).   
  
"Ja, but vhat's it like having a princess for an aunt?" Kurt prodded, Chibi-Usa just rolled her eyes. Kurt continued the questions until he glanced upwards and suddenly left his mouth hanging over, silence overtaking him. Kitty was the first to notice the sudden silence and looked towards Kurt, laughing at the look on his face.  
  
"Like, Kurt! Earth to Kurt!" She called, but didn't receive an answer, instead of persisting, she followed Kurt's gaze and her eyes fell on Usagi, Kitty's mouth hung open as well. "Woah..." She breathed. Kurt continued to stare, but found his voice.   
  
"Iz dat da princess?" He asked to no one in particular.   
  
"Like who else could it be? I've never seen anyone so, like, totally gorgeous!" They continued to stare for several moments, until Logan noticed and became less then totally annoyed.   
  
"Elf! Half pint! You better stop slackin'." He growled, but this only caused the other students to notice what had captured Kurt's and Kitty's attention. Once their attention was caught all attention given to Logan was totally gone now. This angered him, and he turned around to look at the object of interest, and didn't recognize her at first without being covered in blood, but the crescent mark gave her identity away. "Finally came out of hiding..." he mumbled, narrowing his eyes. Usagi's dormant mouth suddenly spread into a heart-melting smile, and caused some of the students to make some complimentary comments amongst themselves.  
  
"Told ya she was beautiful", Chibi-Usa remarked slyly. Their 'show' was cut short when they heard the professor speak to the princess, and she left the balcony to return inside her room.   
  
"Vhen can ve actually meet her?" Kurt asked, a whining tone to his voice. Logan turned back around and crossed his arms over his chest.   
  
"You'll all stay clear until *she* decides, or you'll never be able to ever see her", he growled. This stopped the complaining immediately.  
  
****  
  
Usagi had just locked eyes with the instructor and had smiled, when Professor Xavier had made his entrance.  
  
"Your Majesty", he began, making Usagi jump in surprise.  
  
"Forgive me if I frightened you", Charles apologized. "I see you've met the students." Usagi shook her head and entered the room.  
  
"Not met, only seen". She corrected, her Japanese accent making her English choppy.   
  
"They've all been eager to meet you", Charles pointed out, the warm smile never leaving his face, "and I can see why, you are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen". He complimented, leaving a red stain on Usagi's cheeks.   
  
"The instructor?" She questioned, glancing towards the now clean leather jacket sitting on the chair near her bed.   
  
"Yes, Logan was the one who brought you here, he and Ororo both train the students."   
  
"Ororo?"   
  
"You'll meet her as well, soon enough. Which is why I came up here, I was hoping to convince you to get to know everyone here, since I'm sure some of my students are ready to burst with curiosity." Charles commented. Usagi smiled and nodded slowly.  
  
"I would meet them, but I would rather one by one, I'm not yet strong enough to move around too much". Usagi answered. Charles nodded understanding.   
  
"Perhaps I will send one of them to take the place of your guardians...to bring your dinner?" Usagi nodded again, and made her way back to her bed, setting herself down before her legs would collapse, she winced when a stab of pain shot through her muscles. Charles could hear her talking in Japanese inside her mind, and noticed her discomfort, he turned to leave, but sent her a message using telepathy. *I'll send someone up tonight*. He said, leaving, Usagi looking up but regarding curiously that his voice was in her head rather than out loud.  
  
***  
  
"Like, you mean, one of us gets to meet her?" Kitty asked excitedly. All the students were gathered in the kitchen, along with the outer senshi.   
  
"She has agreed, but she did specify only one at a time, since she's still quite weak", Charles added.   
  
"Zen who getz to go first?" Kurt demanded, the others beginning to argue furiously for their right to get first glimpses of the beauty they saw earlier.   
  
  
"Yo! I say youngest should go first!" Evan insisted, Chibi-Usa covered his mouth and protested.   
  
"Not Evan, you don't want to *scare* my aunt, do you?" She said, Evan pushed her hand away and narrowed his eyes at her.   
  
"I think I should, like, go first...I've been the most anxious, after all." Kitty pointed out. The others reluctantly agreed, and soon Kitty was holding a large tray full of food and heading up to the mysterious Princess Serenity's room.   
  
Knocking on the door to announce her presence, Usagi asked Kitty to enter, preparing to use English in a conversation for the first time. She shrieked in surprise when Kitty phased through the door with the tray, smiling sweetly.   
  
"You...you *walked* through the door...you actually went right through the door!" Usagi commented in shock. Kitty giggled.  
  
"Like of course! I didn't want to drop the tray". She answered. Usagi smiled and shook her head in disbelief.   
  
"Your *gift*?" She assumed, receiving a nod in return. Usagi motioned for Kitty to sit on the bed near her, the young teen gladly accepted, sitting hurriedly and bouncing right into compliments of the princess. Usagi held her hands up in protest, Kitty immediately closed her mouth.   
  
"Enough of me, talk about yourself..." She suggested, Kitty nodded and dived into conversation.  
  
****  
  
Minutes later Kitty rushed down stairs to go to the kitchen where the others were waiting to hear what happened. Kitty came in and the kitchen went deathly silent.   
  
"Who's next?" She asked, confusing the others. "Princess Serenity wants to meet *all* of the students..." A new buzz of arguments began before Kurt was elected, and proceeded to teleport into the room, scaring Usagi again, but she had laughed a lot with his visit.   
  
Rogue was the last of all the students to meet Usagi, after Kurt had been Evan then Jean and Scott, finally the lonely mutant headed up quietly to the room. Knocking softly, Usagi asked her to come in, and Rogue stood near the door and said nothing.   
  
"What's wrong?" Usagi asked, getting up slowly from her seated position and stumbling over to the still girl. Rogue went to speak and started slow.  
  
"It's just...Ah've never met anyone like you before", she answered. Usagi smiled in response, and reached her hand out to take Rogue's, who pulled her hand away before Usagi could reach. "Don't touch me, Princess". Rogue insisted.   
  
"Why?" Usagi asked.   
  
"Because...Ah'll take your energy...and your memories". She answered, lowering her eyes to the ground.   
  
"Your *gift*?" Usagi asked softly. Rogue kept her eyes to the ground.  
  
"Ah think of it as ah curse", she said. Usagi immediately understood and moved as quick as she could towards Rouge, pulling the mutant in a hug, avoiding the young teen's skin. A shot of shock went through Rogue, but hesitantly hugged back.  
  
"You remind me of Hotaru...but she saw that she could be accepted, when one person made friends with her despite her differences." Usagi mentioned, keeping hold of Rogue.   
  
"Yah, your niece", Rogue mentioned. Usagi pulled back from Rogue.  
  
"My niece?" She asked.   
  
"Usahgi?" She said, rasing an eyebrow. Usagi quickly caught on an nodded her head.  
  
"Of course...so, tell me about yourself", Usagi suggested, receiving a smile from the young mutant.   
  
****  
  
Professor Xavier came to Usagi's room early the next morning, suggesting taking the princess on a tour around the Institute. Usagi had dressed in a light lavender gown, courtesy of Michiru, and her hair tied in the traditional odangos for the first time since she had first come to the Institute.   
  
Before they left the room, Usagi picked up the leather jacket, ready to return it to it's owner. Charles marveled at how well Usagi had cleaned evidence of the rescue from the leather, but insisted she would return it to it's rightful owner soon enough.  
  
On the travels, she met Ororo for the first time, and had charmed the weather witch quite quickly. Ororo had wished to take over the tour, but Usagi insisted she was fine with the professor for the time being.   
  
When they reached the hallway leading to the Danger Room, that was when she spotted Logan making his way towards them.   
  
"I just asked him to come meet you", Charles mentioned quietly to Usagi, causing her to remember the professor's telepathic abilities.   
  
"Konnichiwa, Serenity Hime", Logan greeted, finally approaching the touring couple. Usagi smiled in surprise.  
  
"Anno wakaramasu ka Nihogen?" She asked in surprise, receiving a small nod in response. Charles picked this particular moment to announce he would detain himself to other matters.  
  
"Logan, would you take the princess around the rest of the Institute?" He requested, Logan nodded silently and kept his gaze on Usagi as Charles made his exit. Usagi held the jacket out towards Logan, blushing slightly.  
  
"I believe this belongs to you", she said in English, "I'd prefer to practice my English...and I'm sure Rei would have a fit if she heard me say that". She laughed softly at the comment, despite the slight pain stabbing her heart at the memories. Logan approached her and took the jacket, looking at it for several moments before tossing it elsewhere, and motioning Usagi to follow him for the rest of the *tour*.   
  
"Thanks", he said simply, Usagi smiling brightly in response. They approached the Danger Room, and Logan gave a small explanation as to what the room was used for.   
  
Soon Usagi knew pretty much every significant room in the Institute, and had enjoyed her tour, despite the fact she had to walk slower than she would've liked. During the tour, she also became annoyed of being called Serenity, so she decided to announce her desire to change the name.  
  
"Usagi", she finally said. Catching Logan off guard.  
  
"What?" He asked.   
  
"Serenity is my inherited name, not my given name, stick with Usagi, please?" She received a confused look in return.  
  
"But that's the pink-kid's name", he mentioned. Usagi nodded.  
  
"I had the name first", she said, receiving a smirk and a short nod.   
  
"Alright, but the kids still call ya' Serenity, *Usagi*" He concluded. Usagi laughed in response and nodded enthusiastically, but was cut short when her knees decided to buckle at that moment, yelping, she fell over, and inwardly cursed at her still-weak muscles. She didn't protest when Logan grabbed her arms and guided them around his neck, lifting her body into his arms.   
  
"I need training", Usagi insisted, blushing, embarrassed.   
  
"You need to get back into shape", Logan suggested. Usagi laughed softly.  
  
"I was never really into shape", she insisted.   
  
"That's not what I heard", Logan continued, carrying Usagi back to her room. "In fact, I'm surprised that you haven't healed completely yet".   
  
"I heard that that's one of your talents...healing fast?" Usagi mentioned, remembering every bit of gossip that Kitty had rushed out in her short visiting time.   
  
"Hmpf." Was her reply.  
  
****  
  
By the end of that week, Usagi had strengthened enough to be able to walk around the Institute by herself, and had decided to join the others for her meals from then on. Usagi had met Hotaru again, at age sixteen, and was informed of her apparent "crush", courtesy of her now older daughter, or 'niece'.   
  
When Usagi had first lay eyes on Chibi-Usa, she had nearly felt like she was looking into a mirror, with only a few details changed. Although Usagi was careful to keep her daughter's true identity a secret, she was more than thrilled to have the pink-haired girl back in her life again, despite both of them being significantly older than when they had last been together.   
  
All the students had warmed up to Usagi in record speed, especially Rogue, due to the fact that Usagi treated her so much more warmly that Rogue was used to. After having such a damaging past, Rogue's dark life suddenly seemed less lonely...it was almost as if Rogue had someone to connect with...like a mother, she had almost wished.  
  
****  
  
That evening, Usagi sat in the living room with the other students crowding around her. Professor Xavier and Ororo sat near, as Evan was replaying the Rock-opera that some of them had been involved in on the small camera that was loaned to him. Evan had gotten his credit for quite a report, and was allowed to keep the camera that much longer.   
  
The room was filled with laughter, Usagi's voice sounding like church bells ringing gaily. Rogue was sitting tightly to one side, while Chibi-Usa was on the other side, commentating the play along with Evan, who was giving his views of it.   
  
When the play finished, the students were beckoned off to bed, everyone reluctantly began to leave, while Chibi-Usa said several comments about how she felt her career as an actress was just beginning. Usagi listened intently, but narrowed her eyes when she noticed several dark areas on Chibi-Usa's skin.   
  
"What?" Chibi-Usa suddenly asked. Usagi grabbed her daughter's arm, and pulled it towards her, tracing her fingers over several small scars grafted on Chibi-Usa's skin.   
  
"Where did these come from?" She asked, looking sternly at Chibi-Usa, who smiled and shrugged.   
  
"I'm a daredevil back home", she insisted innocently, and headed off with Hotaru to her room, leaving Usagi slightly confused.   
  
  
****  
AN: Onegai, review, I need feedback...for me and Kawaiibaka!! 


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